ATLANTA, Aug. 20, 2013—How do you get middle school students interested in insurance?

That was the question facing Assurant, Inc., a premier provider of specialty insurance and the company behind the "insurance store" at Junior Achievement's new interactive learning center in downtown Atlanta.

Assurant is a gold founding partner in the new, 50,000-square-foot Junior Achievement Discovery Center, which held its grand opening today. The company designed and created the insurance store located amid the center's Finance Park, where students from four metro Atlanta school systems will learn personal budgeting and financial skills.

The Assurant store features unique, hands-on, interactive learning experiences to help students understand insurance and risk, and why it's important to protect the things that matter to them.

The store includes a custom 12-foot touch screen wall designed with advanced gaming technology, which quizzes students and lets them have fun protecting animated figures from disaster. On a communal table nearby are specially programmed tablets featuring animated learning modules, fun facts about the industry, and even a photo app so kids can display themselves in a protective bubble on the giant video wall.

"Experiential learning is a cornerstone of our Assurant training programs as we help employees gain skills and take on broader responsibilities," said Robert B. Pollock, president and CEO of Assurant. "The JA Discovery Center exemplifies these principles and is a great example of how we can support financial education and help people protect what's important to them. We're proud students will come away understanding the role insurance plays in everyday life -- and have some fun in the process."

Each year, some 30,000 middle school students from Atlanta, Marietta, Fulton County and DeKalb County schools will visit the JA Discovery Center.

"Assurant has been a solid partner in JA's classroom programs for years, and they jumped in to support this project in a big way," said Jack Harris, president of Junior Achievement of Georgia. "We're grateful for their support and their commitment to helping young people."

Assurant has more than 2,000 employees in metro Atlanta, at office centers in suburban Cobb County and Duluth.

About the Assurant Foundation
Assurant embraces a core set of enduring values: Common Sense, Common Decency, Uncommon Thinking and Uncommon Results. The approximately 14,500 employees of Assurant strive to provide superior service to customers and clients, while improving the quality of life in local communities where we live and work. The Assurant Foundation extends that commitment by providing financial assistance to designated nonprofit organizations that focus on health and wellness, homes and property or help in the hometowns where we operate.

Assurant is a premier provider of specialized insurance products and related services in North America and select worldwide markets. Assurant, a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ. Assurant has approximately $29 billion in assets and $8 billion in annual revenue. www.assurant.com

Media Contacts:

Shawn Kahle, Vice President, Corporate Communications
Assurant, Inc.
[email protected]
(212) 859-7047

Robert Byrd, Communications
Assurant Specialty Property
[email protected]
(770) 763-2319