Honor Student Is Mourned by Faculty, Classmates : Tragedy: The sixth-grader was killed while riding his bicycle. A 21-trumpet salute is planned today at Balboa Middle School.

Teachers and classmates on Thursday mourned the death of Ventura honor student Christopher Grasmugg, planning a 21-trumpet salute today for the 12-year-old band member who was killed when he swerved his bike into a car.

A sixth-grader at Balboa Middle School, Christopher had recently written an essay about what he did best--riding his bicycle. “It’s kind of an irony,” Balboa Principal Helena T. Reeves said.

A crisis-counseling team was at the school Thursday, and students wrote letters and made a poster to send to the Grasmugg family, Reeves said. A page of the school yearbook will very likely be dedicated to him, she said.

Christopher was especially well-known at Juanamaria School in east Ventura. He attended there for six years and worked as a volunteer until shortly before he was killed early Wednesday evening.

“The night that he died, he had been in the special ed room until 5 o’clock, helping the teacher,” Juanamaria Principal Bonnie Switack said. She said Christopher had attended the PTA’s back-to-school lunch for Juanamaria teachers as an “assistant teacher.”

“He’s one of our very favorite kids,” Switack said. “He really liked teachers and principals.”

Reaction to Christopher’s death has been overwhelming, she said. “Everyone is just going around school with red eyes.”

Switack said the tall, thin boy was one of the first to welcome her to the school when she arrived two years ago, and that he went out of his way to seek out new children and defend them against bullies.

Ventura Police Cpl. John J. Turner said the accident occurred at 6:30 p.m. on Blackburn Road near Petit Avenue. Chris Smith, 16, of Ventura was attempting to pass the cyclist on the left. But the boy also swerved to the left instead of heading toward the right shoulder of the road, Turner said.

Christopher was not wearing a helmet as required by a new state law, Turner said. He said a helmet might have helped the boy. But the head injuries were severe, and the officer said he could not say whether a helmet would have saved the boy’s life.

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Principal Switack said she frequently saw Christopher on his bike, and he “always had his helmet on.”

Reeves said the boy was an excellent student with a great smile who liked to participate in class.

Christopher played the trumpet in the school band, and the band members plan to honor him in school today with a 21-trumpet salute, school officials said.

Survivors include his mother Marion Cole and an older brother. Funeral arrangements are being made at Charles Carroll Funeral Home in Ventura.