Atlanta – Cousins Properties Incorporated’s (Cousins) The Avenue^® is collaborating with the Georgia Department of Education as a part of the outdoor lifestyle center’s Partners in Education initiative. The partnership provides participants of DECA, the co-curricular student organization for high school Marketing Education students, the opportunity to develop interactive marketing campaigns for The Avenue’s five metro Atlanta locations and compete for prizes. Judging begins Oct. 13, and one of 39 teams from the five competing schools will be selected on Nov. 3 to receive a $1,000 DECA program grant and an iPod Touch for each team member, courtesy of The Avenue.

The 109 competitors, selected by the Georgia Department of Education, represent one school within each Avenue community in Georgia, including Lassiter High School in Marietta (The Avenue East Cobb), Kennesaw Mountain High School in Kennesaw (The Avenue West Cobb), Whitewater High School in Peachtree City (The Avenue Peachtree City), Grayson High School in Loganville (The Avenue Webb Gin) and South Forsyth High School in Cumming (The Avenue Forsyth).

“Upon initial launch of our partnership with South Forsyth High School and its DECA program in 2007, we were immediately impressed by the students’ foresight, strategic thinking and ability to connect with our target audiences,” said Megan Jurkovic – marketing manager, The Avenue. “We were proud that the South Forsyth High School chapter went on to win an international DECA competition following the team’s successful fashion show concept in 2008, and we look forward to again providing a valuable, real world marketing experience for dynamic students throughout metro Atlanta.”

The competition began in August with in-class presentations by The Avenue designed to educate students on the brand and overall components of a successful marketing campaign. The students then conducted more than 600 surveys to examine shopping behaviors and social media use of The Avenue’s target market. On Oct. 13, the preliminary round of judging begins with in-class student presentations before a panel of industry professionals. Five teams of finalists will be chosen on Oct. 23 to compete at the Cousins corporate office and the overall winning team will be selected on Nov. 3 by a board of representatives from Cousins, marketing PR firm communications 21, marketing and advertising agencies Infinitee and Method28, and Spitfire Media Group.

“Our partnership with The Avenue is truly beneficial to both organizations – our students receive an invaluable experience that catapults their studies and professional skills, and The Avenue gains important insight on its target demographic through student-conducted market research,” said Linda Smith – marketing program specialist, Georgia Department of Education. “The DECA program provides academic, career and character-building opportunities for students throughout the state – most importantly the annual DECA Career Development Conference, which features business and marketing competitions. Through our work with companies like Cousins and The Avenue, we are confident that the program will continue to provide important opportunities for our students to excel beyond the classroom.”

DECA is an international organization of high school and college marketing students with more than 185,000 high school members across 5,000 chapters worldwide. Of the 15,000 high school students enrolled in Marketing Education Programs, there are approximately 8,500 DECA members in Georgia, with South Forsyth High School boasting the largest chapter in the world with about 400 members.

About The Avenue^®
The Avenue, introduced by Cousins Properties Incorporated in 1998, is an outdoor lifestyle center concept with eight locations throughout the Southeast. The Avenue offers a dynamic mix of premier national retailers, select local merchants and specialty restaurants reflective of local demand and fashion trends. The shopping destination features an open-air, pedestrian friendly setting convenient to major metropolitan areas. Shoppers can visit The Avenue at one of its five metro Atlanta locations, or in suburban Nashville, Tenn., suburban Memphis, Tenn. or Viera, Fla. For more information about The Avenue, please visit www.shoptheavenue.com.