Huntington Alumni News
Howard B. Teich, a 1963 Huntington graduate, is an attorney with McLaughlin & Stern, LLP, a Madison Avenue, New York law firm. Following his high school graduation, Mr. Teich earned a B.A. degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1967 and a law degree at Boston University in 1970. His practice is concentrated in the areas of general business, including communications and health care.
Mr. Teich is very active in the community. He has won numerous awards, including the first annual All Stars Bridge Building Award for Leadership in Community Relations. The award was presented at the All Stars National Gala Benefit at Lincoln Center.
According to the New York Social Diary website (www.newyorksocialdiary.com), “Mr. Teich has taken a leading role in inter-group relations, building and maintaining bridges between the black and Jewish communities in New York.” At the gala “the All Stars announced new initiatives to promote understanding and harmony between black and Jewish youth through interactive projects and dialogue. The All Stars was founded 27 years ago, largely by people from the African American and Jewish communities to build on that strong tradition, by partnering with several prominent Jewish organizations to create understanding and shared experiences between the next generation of black and Jewish young people.”
In 2004, Mr. Teich headed the Jewish Heritage project. It was credited with developing a litany of events focused on the 350th anniversary of the Jewish presence in America.
The Huntington alum resides in Manhattan.
Amy Sacks, a 1997 Huntington High School graduate, is an elementary school teacher. She lives in San Diego, California. Ms. Sacks earned a B.S. degree at the University of Vermont and a Master of Science at CUNY-Hunter College.
Brian Sammis, a 1977 Huntington graduate, is a project manager at Lockheed Martin in Greenville, South Carolina. He earned his undergraduate degree at the State University of New York. Mr. Sammis and his wife, Christine, reside in Simpsonville, SC. Together they have two children; Brian and Rachel.
It’s been a rather hectic few weeks for Brian Fischenich, a 1992 graduate of Huntington High School. The former Blue Devil state wrestling champion had earlier resigned from his private practice law firm, joined the Air Force, been commissioned an officer and dived into Judge Advocate General training at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.
“The JAG school went fairly well,” he said. “It was a decent amount of work. We spent a lot of time in the classroom studying subjects that we are expected to deal with early on in a JAG career, such as military justice, financing issues, contracting, and claims by and against the Air Force. We also spent two weeks conducting a mock court-martial which was good practical experience.”
During the training, Mr. Fischenich and his fellow military lawyers took trips to Eglin AFB and Hulbert Field in Florida. There the group toured planes, used night vision goggles, studied base security forces, including the use of K9s and met with various officials.
Mr. Fischenich and his colleagues also visited Washington, D.C. The trip was timely because “it was at the peak of cherry blossoms,” he said. “We made it down to the Tidal Basin and saw the blossoms there the first afternoon. Later in the week we spent one full day at the Pentagon meeting the top military personnel and the people who run different departments within the JAG Corps.”
Mr. Fischenich is stationed at Hanscom AFB in Massachusetts. “The first week and a half I stayed on base while I looked at some condos and apartments,” he said. “After seeing what was available and crunching the numbers, I decided to go with an apartment that I found in Waltham. It seems like a good location; not a long commute, close to a small downtown area, close to the Charles River for kayaking and close to a bike trail that goes almost to downtown Boston and another trail that goes right by the base.”
One of Mr. Fischenich closest high school friends, Dan Maier, lives near Hanscom AFB and the pair will be able to get together from time to time. Mr. Maier and his family recently returned from a job assignment in China.
Mr. Fischenich earned an undergraduate degree at Lehigh University and later graduated from Georgetown School of Law. Before joining the Air Force, he was working at a law firm in Idaho.
JAG training proved to be an interesting experience. “I met a lot of great people during the course,” Mr. Fischenich said. “With all the training we continue to do in the JAG Corps, I expect I will run into many of them again over the next four years which will be nice.
While he’s busy at work, he is also making plans for his free time. “Once I get set up in the apartment, I would like to check out the golf course that is associated with the base and get out on my bike to do some exploring around the area,” Mr. Fischenich said. “There is a lot of history in the area that I should also check out.”
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