WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, welding students at two local colleges are leaving behind more than class projects.

Students at Palm Beach State College and Indian River State College spent hundreds of hours cutting, grinding, and welding steel into large-scale sculptures honoring the nation’s history—while gaining the hands-on skills they’ll soon take into the workforce.

At Palm Beach State College, 11 welding students created “Forged Freedom,” a 7-foot, 7-inch steel eagle with a six-foot wingspan. The sculpture took more than 350 hours to complete and earned the People’s Choice Award in the Florida Department of Education’s statewide America 250 Welding & Fabrication Challenge.

At Indian River State College, students built a towering tribute to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Standing more than 12 feet tall and weighing roughly 1,500 pounds, the sculpture features a six-foot sentinel crafted from repurposed tools, gears, chains and other industrial materials. The project earned the competition’s Technical Excellence Award.

While the finished sculptures are impressive, students say the experience was about much more than the final product.

“We all put tons of effort behind this to make it look nice,” said Palm Beach State welding student Connor Sabatello. “Everybody grinded at least five feathers each. Everybody ground a piece of metal on this to make it polished.”

At Indian River State College, student Deneka Findlay said the project brought the entire class together.

“Just to see everybody come in collectively, working together, staying those long nights, and putting in those hours, it was just really something to be proud of,” Findlay said.

For Marine Corps veteran Marvin Martin, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier carried a personal meaning.

“I’m a Marine Corps veteran, so it kind of hits home a little more,” Martin said. “I’ve been to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington probably two or three times, so seeing how it turned out, I think it’s a great representation of what it is.”

Indian River instructor Walt Posten said the sculpture honors generations of sacrifice.

“That tomb represents all those soldiers that didn’t come home,” Posten said.

The projects also highlight the growing need for skilled trades workers.

“Without welding, the world stops, really,” Posten said.

According to Troy Shearer, associate dean of Applied Technologies at Indian River State College, the industry is preparing for a wave of retirements, creating strong demand for the next generation of welders.

“There’s a shortfall coming where the folks who have been holding up the trades for years now are getting ready to retire,” Shearer said.

Palm Beach State welding instructor Todd Rowley said that’s exactly what the programs are preparing students to do.

“At the end of the program, they’re competent welders and they can go out and get a job,” Rowley said.

For Sabatello, however, he hopes people take away something beyond the craftsmanship.

“What do I hope they get from this?” he said. “Pride. Pride in their country and their fellow man standing next to them.”

Both sculptures were created as part of the Florida Department of Education’s America 250 Welding & Fabrication Challenge celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary.