PIQUA — Piqua Central Intermediate School is offering grief counseling services to students and staff affected by the sudden loss of a student who passed away unexpectedly this week.

Gobani “JoJo” Antonia Luster Galan-Whitehead, 11, of Sidney, passed away on Monday evening in Troy. He was born on July 29, 2007 in McAllen, Texas, and he was the son of Jamie Louise (Whitehead) Russell of Sidney.

“As many of you heard earlier this week, a student at Piqua Central Intermediate School tragically passed away,” Piqua City Schools Superintendent Dwayne Thompson said in a statement to staff on Thursday.

Funeral services will be held Friday, May 31, at 1 p.m. at Cromes-Edwards Funeral Home, 302 S. Main Ave, Sidney. The family will receive friends on Friday from 11 a.m. until the time of service.

Condolences may be expressed at www.cromesfh.com.

PCIS will be offering grief counseling for students and staff following the funeral services for Galan-Whitehead. PCIS will be hosting an open house at the school, looked at 807 Nicklin Ave. in Piqua, with grief counseling on Friday, May 31, from 3 to 6 p.m. There will be counselors and administrators present.

The school district also has plans to memorialize Galan-Whitehead.

“We will be preparing a brick to memorialize JoJo that will be placed in our memorial garden at PHS. We will work with the family to set a date for this ceremony,” Thompson said.

PCIS is also raising funds to help support Galan-Whitehead’s family. Thompson said that anyone who would like to donate funds for the family can send or drop off the donations at PCIS or directly at the funeral home in Sidney.