2026 Participant Application & Assessment for the AWS Cloud Practioner Cohort in PHL
Please complete the following application and assessment to participate in the 12 week AWS Cloud Practioner cohort that will be kicking off the week of September 28th, 2026. Classes will be held Tuesday and Thursday from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM and office hours for the cohort will be held Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until September 2026 or until the cohort enrollment is complete. Questions? Email education at techsgiving.org
Application
First Name
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Last Name
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Email Address
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example@example.com
Phone Number
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Please enter a valid phone number.
Format: (000) 000-0000.
City, State, and Zip Code of Residence
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Select your age range?
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Please Select
Under 18
18–24
25–29
30–39
40–49
50 or older
How do you identify your race/ethnicity? (Select all that apply)
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African American / Black
Hispanic / Latino
Asian / Pacific Islander
Native American / Alaskan Native
White / Caucasian
Multi-racial
Other
Prefer not to answer
Select the gender identity that best describes you
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Please Select
Female
Male
Non-binary / Third gender
Other
Prefer not to answer
Highest level of education completed BEFORE starting this program
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Please Select
Less than primary school completion
Primary school completion
Secondary school certificate (High school diploma / GED)
Some postsecondary credits, but no formal degree or certificate
Vocational or technical training certificate
Associate's degree or equivalent (Two-year diploma)
Undergraduate degree (e.g., Bachelor's degree)
Postgraduate degree (e.g., Master's degree or Doctorate)
Comfort level with computers and technology in general * (1–5)
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Beginner: Basic email/web browsing
1
2
3
4
Advanced: Familiar with software, computer hardware and IT concepts
5
1 is Beginner: Basic email/web browsing, 5 is Advanced: Familiar with software, computer hardware and IT concepts
Current employment status
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Please Select
Unemployed (Not working and actively seeking work
Working part-time (Less than standard full-time hours)
Working full-time (Standard full-time hours)
Self-employed / Running my own business
Current estimated annual household income
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Please Select
Under $30,000
$30,000 – $49,999
$50,000 – $74,999
$75,000 – $99,999
$100,000 or above
Upload your latest resume
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Submit your LinkedIn profile URL
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Enter N/A if not available
Submit your personal/portfolio URL
List your most recent job title
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Desired job title
if applicable
Primary objective for joining this cohort (Select all that apply)
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Career Changer / Tech Pivot: I am looking to break into the technology field from a completely different industry.
Professional Upskilling: I am already working in tech (or a related professional field) and want to learn AWS cloud skills to advance my current career.
Small/Medium Business Owner: I want to apply these tools directly to build, run, or scale my own business/startup.
Student: I am currently enrolled in school and looking for supplementary skill development.
How will earning the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification help you with your goals ? *
Walk us through a typical week and where roughly 5 to 8 hours of coursework would realistically fit. Be specific about days and times, and tell us what's most likely to get in the way of that plan
Attendance Policy acknowledgement: I commit to attending all scheduled weekly sessions, logging into office hours if needed, and maintaining active communication with my assigned Teaching Assistant (TA) or Success Coach.
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I acknowledge and agree
Learning Readiness acknowledgement: I confirm that I have reliable access to a computer, a stable internet connection, and a quiet environment to study and actively participate in all program sessions.
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I acknowledge and agree
Certification Intent acknowledgement: I understand that Urban League will reimburse my exam voucher costs if I complete the course and take the exam; Techsgiving will provide instruction, study materials, and other resources.
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I acknowledge and agree
I fully intend to sit for the official certification exam upon completing the coursework.
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I acknowledge and agree
In-Person Attendance acknowledgement: I commit to attending at least one designated in-person gathering or community session during the program timeline.
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I acknowledge and agree
Video / Voice Note Submission: Please upload or link a 60 second audio or video clip explaining who you are and how this specific training program will help you reach the primary professional objective you previously selected.
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Assessment
The AWS Cloud Practitioner certificate does not require prior AWS knowledge. The purpose of this assessment is to gather a baseline level of cloud understanding for Techsgiving's purposes
Assessment Question 1: In everyday terms, what does "the cloud" generally refer to?
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Servers in an office
Softwares only accessible from the internet
Serves and storage owned by a company that you can access over the internet
Backup of your files not stored on your computer
Assessment Question 2: A small online store gets 10x more visitors than usual during a holiday sale. What's an advantage of cloud computing here?
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The store's capacity can automatically scale up, then back down after, so it only pays for what it needs
The store saves money because cloud servers are always cheaper than in-store computers, regardless of usage
The store's website becomes permanently faster for all future visitors after the sale
The store no longer needs to monitor its website traffic at all
Assessment Question 3: A small business currently manages its own physical servers in a back office. What's a common reason a business might move to a cloud provider instead?
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To avoid the ongoing cost and effort of maintaining physical hardware themselves
To reduce how much they need to worry about data storage regulations
Because cloud storage tends to load and run faster than a physical, in-office server
Because a business consultant recommended it as a general trend to follow
Assessment Question 4: What's the safest practice when creating a login for a new online account?
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Choose a long, complex password and don't share it with anyone
Turn on extra identity verification (like a one-time code) in addition to a password
Use a password manager to generate a unique password for each site
Change the password every single day
Assessment Question 5: What's the responsible thing to do before uploading a spreadsheet with customer names and phone numbers to an online tool?
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Upload it as-is, since most business tools are built to protect data by default
Check what the tool does with your data and remove anything sensitive you don't need to share
Rename the file something generic so the content isn't obvious
Password-protect the file, but leave all the customer data inside
Assessment Question 6: A website's files are stored in two different physical locations instead of just one. What's the main benefit of this?
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If one location has a problem, the website can still work from the other
The website loads twice as fast for every visitor
It automatically doubles the free storage space available
The website becomes completely immune to hacking attempts
Assessment Question 7: A company wants its app to keep working even if one server crashes unexpectedly. What's a reasonable way to achieve that?
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Run the app across multiple servers, so traffic shifts away from the one that failed
Use one server, but restart it quickly whenever it crashes
Limit how many visitors can use the site to reduce the chance of a crash
Keep a spare server ready, but only turn it on once a year to test it
Assessment Question 8: What's the practical difference between storing a file only on your laptop versus storing it in a shared drive multiple coworkers can access?
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The shared drive lets multiple people access and edit the file from different devices
Files on a laptop automatically sync to every coworker's laptop
A shared drive can only be used by one person at a time, just like a laptop
There's no real difference between the two
Assessment Question 9: Why might a small business prefer to pay only for the computing it uses each month rather than buying servers upfront?
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It reduces upfront cost and financial risk while the business is growing
It means the business pays the same fixed amount no matter how much it uses
It's usually more expensive than buying hardware outright, but simpler to manage
It means the business can predict its exact monthly costs with full certainty, months in advance
Assessment Question 10: A company commits to a fixed amount of computing power for a full year in exchange for a lower price than paying month to month. What's the trade-off?
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They save money, but lose some flexibility to change their usage plan
They pay more overall, but gain complete flexibility to cancel anytime
There's no trade-off, this option is strictly better in every way
They get a much lower price, but must use the exact same amount of computing power every single day of the year
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