(Photo provided by Liam Kocher) Liam Kocher poses with the family dog named Two-Bit. Kocher also has a cat named Stanley.

BELPRE — As an incoming senior at Belpre High School, Liam Kocher has aspirations to pursue a career in costume design when he graduates.

To prepare for his desired career path, Kocher, 17, enrolled in a few creative arts courses through Washington State College of Ohio.

“One of the main schools I’m looking at right now is Columbus College of Art Design,” said Kocher. “I’m looking into the design program.”

Kocher has completed college courses like speech, art appreciation and government. Growing up in Belpre, Kocher said he’s excited to branch out and explore bigger places like Columbus.

With a passion for art and design, Kocher spends a lot of his free time working on projects with his school and community.

(Photo provided by Liam Kocher) Liam Kocher poses with a bat head costume that he designed and put together himself. Kocher spends a lot of his time designing costumes.

“During the school day I work with my teacher Mrs. Edgar in the textiles classroom and I’ve helped work on blankets, puppets and other things for our community,” he said.

Kocher made blankets and card holders for people with dementia at the local nursing home. He said that he is also very involved with the costume design for the musicals at his school.

“I’ve done costume design for two of the school musicals so far,” he said. “I’ve always been an artsy kid and I’ve always loved drawing and making costumes or sewing things. I used to sew clothes for my stuffed animals and things like that.”

Since Kocher was a kid, he’s always felt drawn to art and design. Kocher played the clarinet in middle school before deciding to try out for color guard six years ago.

“I originally played the clarinet but due to COVID I kind of lost it and I was looking to go into something different and body-oriented,” said Kocher. “I decided that color guard would be an interesting choice so I tried out and I got in.”

(Photo provided by Liam Kocher) Liam Kocher and fellow color guard member Hannah Wiley teach sixth-graders at Belpre Elementary about the basics of color guard.

Kocher had no prior dance experience and decided that color guard could be fun to try, and so he did.

As he enters into his final year of high school, Kocher said that it’s going to be a little weird and nerve-wracking when his peers go in different directions.

“It’s weird seeing all these kids you grew up with and they all go off to do something [for their career],” said Kocher.

Kocher and his friends spend their time immersing themselves in the creative arts. He said that all of his close friends are very creative and they spend a lot of their time drawing and making costumes.

Kocher will be entering college with experience from his paid internship with BB2C (Building Bridges to Careers) who is in a partnership with Washington State. His internship consisted of working on maintenance and learning the mechanics of 3D printers during the 2023-24 school year.

(Photo provided by Liam Kocher) Liam Kocher in the color guard during the 2024-25 marching band season. Pictured is Kocher holding his final pose during his solo for the season show titled “Call of the Vikings.”

“I was kind of midway with it; I thought it was interesting but I don’t know if that’s something I could do forever,” he said.

Kocher is preparing for the upcoming marching band season and wants to relax as much as possible until then. When he isn’t attending college class, practicing in color guard, or hanging out with his friends, he works part-time as a sales associate at Journeys.

“Usually, I just space everything out in quarters so I have band at the end of the summer and beginning of fall. During the Christmas season I’m working and doing college classes because band’s calmed down,” said Kocher. “Then during the spring I’m working on things for the musical.”

With Kocher’s busy schedule, he’s learned how to manage his time and complete his tasks in a timely manner.

Before he decided he wanted to go into fashion design, Kocher wanted to pursue toy design and collect dolls.

(Photo provided by Liam Kocher) Liam Kocher posing with his family who attended his National Honor Society induction in 2025.

“I got really into the doll’s fashion and I thought ‘why don’t I just go into fashion?'” he said. “It’s kind of cooled down a little bit because it gets expensive.”

Kocher collects antique dolls and toys but more specifically, vintage Barbies.

“A big phase I had was that I used to collect the original 1998 Furbies,” he said. “I usually shop on Ebay or anywhere I can get them second-hand.”

Kocher said that he loves historic and vintage things. He said that one of the most interesting things about himself is the way that he thinks.

“I think that I have a lot of bold ideas and overall have a bold sense,” he said.

Even though he enjoys color guard, he doesn’t think that he will continue after high school. Kocher is excited for life after high school.