Jamie was born in Weston, Mass. on June 22, 1961, and was immediately introduced to the world of scholarship. His father, the late James Albert Kapteyn, was a secondary school English teacher at the Cambridge School of Weston and a teacher at Simon’s Rock, an "early college" for accelerated high school students. Jamie spent the majority of his childhood in Berkshire and Franklin counties, attending Berkshire Country Day School and Deerfield Academy. He then enrolled at Trinity College in Connecticut and earned an M.A. from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College.

After a short career in advertising in New York City and marketing in Berkshire County, Jamie found his calling as a boarding school teacher. His first teaching job was as an English tutor at Miss Hall’s School. He then moved on to teach English, coach and serve as a dorm parent at Cushing Academy for nine years, where he chaired the English department for several years.

From 1998 to 2000 Jamie chaired the English Department at The Williston Northampton School before moving on to Deerfield Academy, his alma mater. For seven years, he taught English, served as the sophomore class dean, coached girls’ varsity soccer and boys’ varsity lacrosse, and lived in a boys’ dormitory with his wife, Kirsten, and his two daughters, Ingrid and Ilse.

Jamie’s family life was closely intertwined with his teaching career, but his hobbies also made their way into the classroom. An avid fly fisherman, Jamie taught a course at Deerfield called, “The Quiet Sport: A Study of the Science, the Craft and the Literature of Fly Fishing.”  He cared for his students like they were his own, and is remembered for the way he rode his bike down Deerfield’s Albany Road, wearing a beret and Barbour jacket and greeting everyone he passed.

Jamie died on January 16, 2007 at age 45 while playing indoor soccer with friends and colleagues from Deerfield Academy. More than 1,000 people attended Jamie’s memorial service at Deerfield on January 21, 2007.
 

Known for his quiet confidence, integrity, humility and playful wit, Jamie was a star teacher.

• iBerkshires: Mount Greylock's Welch Awarded Kapteyn Teaching Prize
• Berkshire Edge: Mount Greylock teacher Jeffrey Welch receives Kapteyn Prize
• Berkshire Record: Mount Greylock teacher will receive Kapteyn Prize

• The Berkshire Eagle: 2017 Kapteyn Prize winner: 'Dare to be passionate. Dare to care.'
• iBerkshires.com: Buxton School Teacher Awarded 2017 Kapteyn Prize
• The Berkshire Edge: Buxton School teacher Linda Burlak receives Kapteyn Prize
  
  
  

• The Berkshire Edge: William Fenton wins Kapteyn Prize
• The Hotchkiss School: Physics and Astronomy Instructor William Fenton Awarded the Kapteyn Prize

• iBerkshires: Mount Everett Teacher Wins $10,000 Kapteyn Prize
• The Berkshire Edge: Educator, artist Kari Giordano wins $10,000 Kapteyn Prize
• The Berkshire Eagle: Mount Everett teacher Kari Giordano to be awarded Berkshire Taconic Kapteyn Prize for education
• Berkshire Record: Mt. Everett educator Kari Giordano wins $10,000 Kapteyn Prize

• Berkshire Eagle: Mount Greylock math teacher Robert Thistle earns James C. Kapteyn Prize
• iBerkshires: Mount Greylock Teacher Recognized for Excellence

• Litchfield County Times: Two Davenports, Vocational Agriculture Teachers, Reap Honors
• YouTube: Kapteyn Award presented to Karen Davenport September 22

• Hawthorne Valley Alkion Center: Book Launch: The Invisible Boat by Eric Müller

•  iBerkshires: Mount Hermon School Educator Awarded Kapteyn Prize
• Camp Pemigewassett: Pemi's Charlie Malcolm Honored for Excellence in Teaching

• Swarthmore College Bulletin: Samuel Prouty '00
• The Hotchkiss School: Prouty wins prize for teaching excellence

• iBerkshires: Teacher Wins Prize for Teaching Excellence