Joyce Tsai

Reporter

United States of America

With more than 12 years of newspaper experience covering an array of topics, from local, state, national and international politics and public policy to crime, health care, education and nonprofits, I've worked at Bay Area News Group, Kansas City Star, Lowell Sun, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Contra Costa Times, Dallas Business Journal, Fort Worth Weekly and Stars and Stripes.. With a love for narrative storytelling, I specialize in writing profiles, analysis and trend stories, as well as in-depth enterprise, investigative stories that pair hard-news with engaging human stories that come alive on the page. Also available for freelance assignments.

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Portfolio

Education

Alameda Magazine
02/13/2019
Oakland Schools Go Back to the Future With Vo-Tech

Anai Melendrez is the first direct-entry student into a skilled-trade apprenticeship from the Oakland school district in the last 20 to 30 years. Photo by Lance Yamamoto Anai Melendrez still remembers being only 7 years old when she first watched her father work.

Oakland Magazine/East Bay Express
11/13/2017
The Wrong Path?

Paideia helped turn Oakland Tech into the best public high school in the city.But some teachers and parents say they are worried about the acclaimed humanities program's future. Maryann Wolfe, the program co-founder, resigned this summer after more than three decades of teaching, due to frustration for what she says has been a lack of support for the program and accusations that it is elitist and racist.

Alameda Magazine
09/27/2017
Anti-Semitism on the Island

At first, Alameda High School freshman Natasha Waldorf thought the text message must have been sent by mistake. During her geometry class in January, a cartoon image of Mr. Clean dressed up as a Nazi officer with the words "Mr. Ethnic Cleansing" in bold red letters popped up on her phone, from an unknown phone number.

Oakland Magazine
04/04/2018
Relieving Student Anxiety and Stress

At some of Oakland's most elite private college preparatory high schools, the focus is growing on how to relieve student stress and anxiety, at a time when youth are more anxious, depressed and worried then they've ever been: On a recent Wednesday morning, Julietta Camahort was immersed in a moment of nearly Zen-like tranquility as she used pen and colored markers to create her own mandala - an intricate geometric composition, made up of radiating circles, arches, petals, and spirals - that...

kappanonline.org
09/06/2017
Opioid addiction and schools

The epidemic's effects are much bigger than student overdoses and districts handing out naloxone. Peggy Giuliano is a 6th-grade teacher in Newton Falls in northeast Ohio who is living the stark reality of opioid abuse infiltrating her community every day - both in her school and at home.

Oakland Magazine/East Bay Express
12/21/2017
Closing the Books

Ann Hutcheson-Wilcox still remembers how textbooks were a fixture of her education-required reading that formed the backbone of learning for much of her schooling. But the Skyline High School parent said that during the past five years, she's seen the use of textbooks by schools dwindle to the point that she wonders if her teenage son might have forgotten the basics of how to use them.

East Bay Times
09/07/2016
Immigrant students cross borders from distant lands

var _ndnq = _ndnq || []; _ndnq.push(['embed']); CONCORD - Daniel Lazo's lonely journey to Jean Malinasky's World Academy Class at Mt. Diablo High School began thousands of miles away with little more than $200 in his pocket.

Oakland Magazine/East Bay Monthly
09/24/2018
A New High School Offers an Affordable Education for East Bay Kids

The new Cristo Rey De La Salle high school offers an affordable Catholic private school education specifically for low-income students, who help pay for their education by working part-time at some of the Bay Area's well-known corporations and businesses.

East Bay Times
11/15/2016
Bay Area schools try to ease kids' fears spurred by Donald Trump's win

SAN PABLO - Having already faced a slew of fretful questions from her third-grade students months before the presidential election about what a Donald Trump win would mean, Alyssa Hoy found herself with much of America, dreading going to work the day after the election.

East Bay Times
01/27/2017
Astronaut Scott Kelly recounts hardships of space odyssey

CONCORD - After breaking records for how much time he's clocked throughout the years in space, retired astronaut Scott Kelly made space travel look easy. He's the first American astronaut to spend nearly a year in space, setting an American record.

East Bay Times
11/02/2016
For teachers, the 2016 presidential election a gift and a curse

In the past decade of teaching high school history and government, Geoff Beckstrom has to admit that he has never taught during a presidential election season quite like this one. The scandal, bombast, and crude language that at times have energized this year's presidential election has been a high school history teacher's gift - and curse.

East Bay Times
02/26/2016
Actor Tim Robbins coaches young actors at Burbank Elementary in Hayward

HAYWARD - Of course they were all too young to have seen his most famous of movies, the "The Shawshank Redemption." But despite not having watched the inspiration flick of a down-on-his-luck man imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, that film's lead star, Tim Robbins, couldn't have met with a more avid and impassioned group of young fans Friday morning at Burbank Elementary School.

East Bay Times
11/23/2016
Oakland school chief resigns to become D.C. schools chief; what now?

OAKLAND - As Oakland's schools chief, Antwan Wilson was both admired for his efforts and criticized for what some labeled his pro-charter stance. Now that he has announced he's leaving to take a job as chancellor of Washington, D.C., public schools, the district is once again challenged to find a leader who can unite the school community and help all of its students succeed.

East Bay Times
01/07/2017
Northgate community seeks split from Mt. Diablo school district

var _ndnq = _ndnq || []; _ndnq.push(['embed']); WALNUT CREEK - It has been viewed by some as a form of modern-day economic and racial discrimination in public K-12 education, while others say it's a way to gain more accountability, oversight and local control of their schools.

East Bay Times
03/23/2017
Oakland school district spending limits backfire, $10 million in cuts still needed

OAKLAND - Oakland Unified is facing more tough choices because a mid-school year hiring freeze and limits on discretionary spending that started at the district in January aren't achieving the cost-cutting savings needed to trim $10 million from the budget this year, district officials announced late Wednesday afternoon.

East Bay Times
12/19/2015
Every black male student in Oakland can be a king

OAKLAND - A recent Wednesday class at Oakland Tech started with Gil Scott-Heron's famous funk groove-infused anthem from the early 1970s playing in the background: "You will not be able to stay home, brother. "You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out."

East Bay Times
10/07/2016
Mt. Diablo schools officials: New ways of discipline working

CONCORD - It's Friday morning at Wren Avenue Elementary. And a vicious rumor has rippled through the recess of Alli Cornwall's fifth-grade class: A boy and girl, who shall remain nameless, according to the playground gossip mill, "like each other and are dating." "And that's serious business in the fifth grade," said Principal Cynthia Goin.

National Defense

Stars and Stripes
Little has changed since Tailhook, based on Lackland scandal testimony

More than 20 years after the infamous Navy Tailhook scandal that awakened the public to sexual assault in military, too little has been done to reverse an epidemic of sexual violence within its ranks, lawmakers and sexual assault victims said on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Health care reporting

East Bay Times
08/19/2014
Laser surgery shows promise in halting seizures in epilepsy sufferers

PLEASANTON - Justin Wan is not one to radiate unfettered optimism or make bold statements about his future. More than 10 years of battling epilepsy will do that to a person who never knows when the next seizure will strike. Wan can't drive, swim alone or live by himself.

The Mercury News
06/07/2015
Bay Area hospitals seeing birthrates inching back up after recession

Every time a baby is born at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, the sounds of Brahms' Lullaby stream through the halls of the hospital. On a recent spring day, the tune rarely stopped playing as the entire 35-bed mother-and-baby unit in the Long Tower was occupied.

The Mercury News
11/23/2014
Bay Area nurses, hospitals clash over Ebola training

When the Ebola virus hit home in the United States in September, Sandra Ward, an emergency room nurse at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Walnut Creek, was eager to get the latest training to protect herself. But during a session in which nurses practiced putting on protective gear, she noticed the hood was missing, leaving her exposed.

The Mercury News
01/28/2015
Contra Costa County counts homeless population

CONCORD - Usually, they are the forgotten ones, tucked out of sight, living in tents under highway overpasses, in back alleys, abandoned buildings and homeless encampments, scattered all over the county. But for the next three days, the homeless will be the focus of attention.

Dallas Business Journal
11/08/2009
Unhealthy Grade

Commonwealth Fund rates Texas as one of the worst nationally in providing health care for residents due to access issues and a large uninsured population

Dallas Business Journal
11/02/2009
89,000 dropped from Texas Medicaid roles - Dallas Business Journal

This month, Texas posted the largest one-month drop of Medicaid enrollees in the past eight years, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. More than 89,000 people across the state were dropped off Medicaid rolls, in a year that has seen record increases in enrollment every month.

Investigative/Enterprise

East Bay Times
04/28/2016
Housing crisis: Bay Area school districts struggling to retain teachers

When Valerie Lines moved from Portland to the Bay Area to start a teaching career, she had a five-year plan: pay off her student loans, save money and buy a starter home. But nearly a decade later, the Oakland teacher has shelved those dreams. She's still renting and just trying to get by.

Lowell Sun
01/23/2011
Audit revealed concerns about Tewksbury rec center funding

While the town's Recreation Center has been under investigation for a month, it has been the focus of scrutiny for several years, The Sun has found. A public records request by The Sun shows that questions have lingered for years about department finances

Fort Worth Weekly
08/04/2004
Abortion Law Refugees

Women needing late-term procedures can no longer get them in Texas.

Crime reporting

Lowell Sun
04/16/2011
After so many years, the call they waited for

For six months after their 15-year-old son's murder, they still kept the lights on in the front porch of their Pocohontas Drive home, hoping that somehow their son would find his way home.

Lowell Sun
03/18/2012
'We can't let go. We can't let go'

For the McCabe family, relics and reminders of the son they lost are everywhere -- impossible to escape. Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_20201517/we-cant-let-go-well-never-let-go#ixzz2RKErWJ8q

News features

Lowell Sun
07/12/2012
Tewksbury native weds Congressman Barney Frank

At the wedding, Nancy Pelosi was sitting at their table. "And she was a lovely lady," said Linda Ready of Tewksbury, as she recalled happily -- still basking in the glow of her son Jim Ready's wedding to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank over the weekend in Newton

Lowell Sun
10/24/11
Big guns are in Motel Caswell's corner

The owner of the Motel Caswell is now taking his fight against the seizure of his property by the federal government to a national stage.

Lowell Sun
05/31/11
A soldier, a son lost

Marine Lance Cpl. Tim Ryan came home hurting. His friends and family never knew how much Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_18166220#ixzz2RTsGh0Yr

Hurricane Katrina coverage

McClatchy/Knight-Ridder/Fort Worth Star-Telegram
09/13/2005
Louisiana governor blasts FEMA over recovery of bodies

Blasting federal officials for a "lack of urgency and lack of respect," Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said Tuesday that the state would seize control of the task of recovering the bodies of Hurricane Katrina victims.

McClatchy/Knight-Ridder/Fort Worth Star-Telegram
09/11/2005
Bush to visit Gulf Coast again amid ongoing criticism

President Bush visits the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast for the third time on Monday, where he's expected to face more harsh words about the federal government's response to the disaster.

Spokesman.com
New Orleans isn't ready for residents, chief says

NEW ORLEANS - One day before Mayor Ray Nagin plans to start letting residents return, the commander of the federal recovery effort warned Sunday that the city simply isn't ready. Dangers abound, said Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen. The city's levees are too weak to protect against another storm.

Business profiles

San Francisco Business Times
ATI rides wave of school and government work to expansion - San Francisco Business Times

Rank: 69 Growth: 70% What it does: Architecture and engineering services company CEO: Paul DiDonato HQ: Pleasanton 2017 employees: 70 2017 revenue: $15.17 million 2016 revenue: $11.16 million 2015 revenue: $8.91 million In 2011, the Pittsburg Unified School District was looking for a way to relieve overcrowding by building a new middle school in just 13 months.

San Francisco Business Times
Salesforce.org's fresh donations pour more money into San Francisco, Oakland schools - San...

Bay Area children got one step closer to becoming computer whizzes last month. Salesforce.org, the philanthropic arm of San Francisco-based cloud computing giant Salesforce, continued its mission of expanding computer science education for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students both in the Bay Area and nationwide by donating millions of dollars to the San Francisco and Oakland unified school districts.

San Francisco Business Times
Exygy serves up tech for good to diverse clients - San Francisco Business Times

As tech company that aims to serve the public good, Exygy keeps growing by leaps and bounds. From 2014 to 2016, the company grew 141 percent from $1.8 million to $4.3 million in revenue. It's added a number of big name contracts, including from the San Francisco Airport, San Francisco Human Services Agency and California Child Welfare Services department.

Dallas Business Journal
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra sets ticket sales record - Dallas Business Journal

Symphony orchestras across the country have been among the arts organizations hardest hit by the current recession, but the Dallas Symphony Orchestra sold a record $11 million worth of tickets for its recently completed season thanks to a push that lured first-timers to fill more than 25% of the seats at the Meyerson.

International reporting

Lowell Sun
09/29/11
Taiwan's upcoming election plays pivotal role in U.S. relations with Taiwan

As President Barack Obama strains to build bipartisan support for $447 billion jobs bill, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers have criticized the president in the past week for not honoring a foreign policy commitment that also doubles as a much-needed job booster. The Obama administration's plans to reject Taiwan's long-stated desire to purchase 66 advanced F-16 fighters from the United States, and instead refurbish its older jets,

Lowell Sun
01/13/2012
In Taiwan, great strides for women

TAIPEI -- Throughout the city, a legion of political banners flutters in the wind, on almost every street and alleyway. And among those signs, Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-Wen's stand out in sharp contrast to those of incu

Lowell Sun
01/14/2012
U.S. policy shift looms large amid China-Taiwan tensions

TAIPEI -- For much of the past 10 years, the United States was neck-deep in dealing with that powder keg of terrorist threats and entanglements that is the Middle East. But just as that chapter winds down -- with the Iraq War formally coming to a close i

Lowell Sun
01/18/2012
For Taiwanese-Americans from Mass., election was worth the trip

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Every four years, they endure the snarl of security and customs checkpoints. They withstand the tedium of airport layovers and transoceanic flights. And by the time they have made their roundtrip journey, they will have spanned more tha