Manteca High math teacher nearly became an FBI agent

Manteca High math teacher Carol Kemper grades tests during third period on Oct. 29, 2024, at Manteca High School in Manteca, Calif. (Mateo Esparza/The Tower)

Editor’s Note: This profile is part of a series of stories on Manteca High School teachers who discovered teaching only after starting their professional careers in another line of work.

By MATEO ESPARZA 
The Tower 

Manteca High math teacher Carol Kemper calls a student to her desk to interrogate them. Kemper believes that she’s caught the student cheating.  

As the student approaches, she can already spot the lie by the way they walk up. She uses cognitive skills from her practice at the Federal Bureau of Investigations.  

The interrogation begins without even starting.  

She watches the way they play with their fingers. 

Sweat forms on their forehead.  

There’s a bit of shaking and hesitation in their voice.  

She knows they’ve cheated, but when will they confess? 

Kemper has been a classroom instructor for two decades, but her experience with the FBI has given her skills that carry on in her classroom.  

“I was always interested in law enforcement and wanted to something behind the scenes,” she said, “but I also loved education. It was my first passion to teach kids.”  

Kemper taught at four schools for 10 years. Then a family friend helped her get recruited by the FBI, where she worked and trained for two months. She was influenced by the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and wanted to help the country and protect her family. Then, Kemper came back to teaching. 

Twenty years later, Kemper is a student favorite in the math department. She loves to package information on fractions and equations with life lessons ... things they’ll remember their whole life. 

First Career: FBI 

Kemper started as a teacher and loved her job teaching. However, at the time of the 9/11 attacks, she wanted to help her country any way she could. A family friend helped her get recruited by the FBI.  

While training with the FBI for 2 months, she honed investigation skills and learned how to arrest someone. She also became experienced with firearms and combat skills. Kemper was involved in special agent arresting authority and specialized in federal problems across state lines. 

“There were things I couldn’t talk about with my family,” she said. “They would ask me certain things about the FBI and had to keep my mouth shut, which was hard because I felt like I was keeping secrets.” 

Transition: Back to school 

After her four months as an FBI trainee, Kemper left to teach. She had two different lives when transferring back to teaching. She had to change from an FBI investigator to a math teacher. 

“My whole personality changed,” she said. “The way I approached people or the way you look at people differently from when I was in law enforcement because you are constantly processing the way they talk, the way they look at you.” 

Manteca High math teacher Carol Kemper works with a group of students. (Raiyan Masudi/The Tower)

Second career: Teaching 

Kemper has been teaching for 20 years and counting. She came back to teaching because she likes mentoring teenagers.

Many of her experiences as an FBI trainee have helped her in the classroom. Not only can she spot a cheater from a mile away, but she’s been able to diffuse altercations or incidents in her class. 

“I learned how to deescalate situations in class and how to interrogate and ask questions and get kids to talk and worked hand to hand,” she said. “It was very interesting.” 

Her friend and colleague Linda Sumrall, a history teacher at Manteca High, believes Kemper made the right career choice. She is a popular teacher on campus who has a great rapport with the students. 

“I think she is a good teacher,” Sumrall said. “She works very well with the kids. The kids love her, and she works really hard for the kids.”