Hall of Fame
Jack Armstrong, class of 1940 and a native of Altoona, lettered nine times in football, basketball, baseball and track. He made his biggest impact in track and field where he won three straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) javelin titles.
In 1938 he won the conference title with a throw of 188-9. In 1939, he became the first thrower in conference history to reach 200 when he made a winning throw of 206-1. That mark stood as the conference record until 1965. In 1940, his senior year, Armstrong won the javelin with a throw of 203-0.
In addition to his exploits at the conference championships, Armstrong competed against major college opponents at the Penn Relays. In 1939 he placed fifth in the javelin.
Armstrong played in the line for the football team. He also punted and occasionally place-kicked
Following graduation Armstrong taught for one year in Yeagertown. He then served in the Army for three years during World War II. He saw action in North Africa and Italy and was wounded in 1945.
After the war Armstrong taught industrial arts at St. Michael’s High School in Maryland from 1947 to 1950 and was head basketball coach there. From 1950 to 1960 he taught at Cambridge High School in Cambridge, Md. There he coached the football team from 1951 to 1954. He served as the supervisor of industrial arts, pupil transportation, driver education and safety in Dorchester County Schools from 1960 until he retired in November 1978.
Through the years Armstrong served as president of the Dorchester County Teachers Association and was actively involved in the community as an official in his church and as a member of the county planning agency. He was among the community leaders who helped guide Cambridge schools through some of its roughest times, making the transition from segregation to desegregation in the 1960s.
