Student 1st Senior Girl Scout To Earn Gold Award At ICN

NAPERVILLE, IL — Esra Agun "really loves animals," a passion that recently helped the Neuqua Valley High School junior become first senior Girl Scout to earn a Gold Award at Islamic Center of Naperville (ICN). Esra spent an entire summer building 10 wooden boxes to help shelter squirrels at Willowbrook Wildlife Center.

Esra had previously earned a Silver Award for building seed sifters, which helped inspire her for this project. Her family was also a big part of her inspiration for building the nest boxes.

“My mom is very interested in biology, so she kind of influenced the decision," she told Patch. Esra's mother, Aysel Golbahar, holds a PhD in biochemistry.

Esra said her father helped her build the squirrel boxes, which were initially made using recycled deck wood from neighbors and community members. The deck wood needed to be sanded to remove its painted finish, a process that proved to delay the project's progress.

Eventually, Esra opted to buy wood to make the remaining boxes. To fit the specs required by Willowbrook Wildlife, the wood had to be cut and glued together. Next, Esra reinforced the boxes with screws. A circular saw was used to make a "door" for the squirrels to get in, and drainage holes were added to the bottom of each box to prevent rain from accumulating.

Esra told Patch each box took six hours or more to build. All in all, the project took the entire summer of 2023 to complete, but Esra said the extra effort was worth it.

The boxes are already being used to treat injured squirrels as they rehabilitate at Willowbrook Wildlife Center.

“I’m really happy because I’m someone who really loves animal, and I have an interest in nature. Doing something that helps the environment and the ecosystem is really nice," Esra said.

When she graduates, Esra plans to double major in business and horticulture, once again tapping into her love of nature.

She told Patch she tends to her family's backyard garden and has loved taking care of her rescue cat, Sultan, whom she adopted during the start of the pandemic.

“Rescuing cats from the streets puts them in a less stressful situation where they don’t have to worry about cars or being injured by other animals," Esra said.

She added that she'd love to continue to help cats in the future by doing "volunteer work at shelters, building shelters for stray or feral cats to use in winter so they don’t freeze to death, and they can find a comfortable spot to hide."

Esra said she's loved the Girl Scout program at ICN because she gets to see so many friends who attend other schools. She said she and her friends enjoy "doing fun community crafts together, for Eid, etc. It is a nice, shared experience for the Girl Scouts and their families.”

Esra told Patch she is honored to have been the first senior Girl Scout at ICN to earn the award and she hopes it will be "helpful for our leader to know what to do in the future for Girl Scouts who are working on the Gold Award."

Her mother, Aysel, told Patch she, too, hopes Esra's winning project will inspire other girls.

“It's important for her to be recognized and be an example for other girls," she said, adding, "All the young kids should enroll in this sort of project instead of spending time on the internet."