I started teaching in 1979 when I was running my own business. I purchase Mosely Supply in1975.  I changed the name of the store to Sipes’ Supply.  The store was in West Frankfort Illinois, Heights.  I was running 3 business out of this store.  Sipes’ Supply, Sipes’ sheet metal and Sipes’ Electric INC.  

I had three electricians working at a local coal mines. My job was running supply to the electricians and supervising their work.   

I was doing alright until Jimmy Carter got elected to president of the United States.    Everything fell apart, but during that time there was not a whole lot to do because the business was slowing down.

I was on a technology board at West Frankfort High School. They would meet once a month with Ron Smith, which was one of my teachers when I was in high school.  We would go to a meeting once a month at the high school.  He was wanting to get an Electronics Program in the high school.  

A year later I got a call from a professor at (Southern Illinois University at Carbondale) SIU-C and he wanted to know if I would teach an Electronics class for four weeks, because the guy they hired did not show up, so I said “sure” and starting teaching.

The teaching hours was 18 hours a week in the class room, 4 hours a week in my office.  I had to be on campus 22 hours a week.  The rest of the time was my time.  I started teaching and when the four weeks came around, I went to look up the dean that asked me to teach the classes.  He was nowhere to be found.  Evidently, I went to the secretary of this dean and she had a stack of papers on her desk.  She was trying to get caught up, because she just started this job, this semester.  So after a couple of days, they went through them and found a sheet to put me on the payroll.  I took it over to payroll and I got four weeks’ pay and thought “this is not bad at all”.

I found out that the Dean was on a sabbatical to China and would not be back until the end of the semester.  Another dean asked me if I would teach next semester and I said “sure” so I was there for six years.  I started working on a Bachelor Degree, because SIU-C would pay my tuition since I was an employee of the University.  I was allowed to take 6 credit during the spring and fall semester.  I could take up to 14 credit hours during the summer semester.  

I did that one summer and I learned how to build an intergraded computer circuit from chip level with 8085 processors

.  From the processor to control chips to hexadecimal coded key board.  You inter your codes in the key board to the processor and the processor would output to 8 LED in binary code.  To complete the project.  

They hired me on an Associate in Technology Degree in Electronics which was two years of college with 60 credits.  All my junior year credits were from work experience.  This program was called the Capstone Program.  I received 30 credit through this program.  

I needed 30 credits for my senior year.  I took 9 credits general studies and some more electronic credits and in 3 years, I needed 1 general studies credit for my Bachelor Degree.