The PIX Morning News' Lisa Mateo is live John F. Kennedy Elementary School in East Islip, Long Island where the students are having a Holiday Visit.

The Holiday Visit is how they celebrate their last day of school before their holiday vacation. The students have fun events to kick off the Kids' Christmas Holiday. Santa, carolers, an orchestra and the school band will be there. Lisa will talk to the school's principal Aileen O'Connor about this tradition.

For more information about the school, visit www.eischools.org.

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With 20 schools in the city being closed down due to poor academic performance, Lisa Mateo takes a look at one special school that is making it despite the odds.

She visits P.S. 57 in Spanish Harlem, a school that was on the brink of being closed down, but through donors and special programs the school has turned around.

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Puerto Rican lawyer turned author Daniel Serrano recently released his first novel, Gunmetal Black; It's the story of an ex-con whose dreams of starting over are cut short by corrupt cops and the gang life of his past.

Daniel grew up in Brooklyn and Chicago and now lives in Spanish Harlem. We walked around the Bronx couthouse where he used to work as a lawyer and around the streets of Spanish Harlem where he now lives.

We talked about how he became a lawyer and his transition to becoming a crime fiction author, his rough life growing up hanging out with gang-bangers on the streets of Chicago, and how the book almost didn't exist. In fact, the only copy of it was lost in Tower 2 during the World Trade Center attacks.

Click here for more on Serrano's book Gunmetal Black.

In the second part of Lisa Mateo's special two-part series on the Dominican Republic, she enjoys the good life. From night life to eating to loads of activities (volleyball tournament, swimming with dolphins, encounters with sharks and stingrays, kite boarding), she experiences all that the island offers.

And guess what? She wants to share the fun with you! Teaming up with Caribbean Travel, she's giving away the ultimate luxurious getaway, which includes:

- 3 nights accommodation in a junior suite, all inclusive for two at the Victoria Golf & Beach Resort
- 1 spa treatment
- 1 green fee at Playa Dorada Golf Course
- Entrance for 2 to Ocean World Adventure Park
- 2 round-trip airline tickets

Click here for your chance to win this FREE Carribbean getaway! Tune in tomorrow when Lisa announces the winner of the getaway!

Click here to see part one of the series.

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Lisa Mateo hit the road with the Liberty H.O.G.'s for their 10th Annual Charity Toy Run. The toys went to children at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

For more info on the Liberty H.O.G's, log onto libertyhog.net and for the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital log onto bmsch.org.

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Our own Lisa Mateo took a brief vacation from Air 11 to hop a flight to the Dominican Republic to learn more about the island's rich history and culture. She soaked up some some sun, the sights and all of the fabulous activities this island nation has to offer. In part one of her two-part special series, she visits the cities of Puerto Plata, Cabarete and Playa Dorada.

And guess what? She wants to share the fun with you! Teaming up with Caribbean Travel, she's giving away the ultimate luxurious getaway, which includes:

- 3 nights accommodation in a junior suite, all inclusive for two at the Victoria Golf & Beach Resort
- 1 spa treatment
- 1 green fee at Playa Dorada Golf Course
- Entrance for 2 to Ocean World Adventure Park
- 2 round-trip airline tickets

Click here for your chance to win this FREE Carribbean getaway!

Click here for the official rules. Participants have until 5pm EST today, Monday November 17 to enter. Tune in tomorrow for part two of Lisa's special on the Dominican Republic and to see if you've won the vacation!

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The CW11's Lisa Mateo visits Talay -- a new restaurant in West Harlem that blends Latino and Thai cuisines. She also speaks with Food & Wine magazine about the growing trend of fusion cooking.

Individually their tastes are somewhat similar, but together Thai-Latin cuisine is a culinary treat. Just listen to the menu: ropa vieja with asian root vegetables, churrasco with sweet, sour and salty dipping sauces and pineapple shrimp fried rice. If that caught your attention then "talay" is the place for you. They also have a great late night lounge area upstairs with live music.

Lisa's also providing a bonus how-to demo to CW11 viewers. She'll teach you how to make pan-seared scallops with red coconut curry sauce.

Talay is located at 701 W 135th Street (btwn Broadway and aRiverside Drive), New York, NY 10031. For more information, visit talayrestaurant.com or call (212) 491-8300.

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Move over Pharrell, there’s a new producer in town and he's just 15-years-old. Cuban producer Miguel "Migs" Baeza already produced tracks on Ashanti's new album The Vault which is being released today, Tuesday, October 14.

The CW11's Lisa Mateo sat down with Baeza at his studio to find out the secret behind his success. She also spoke with his father, Mario Baeza, who is the founder of AJM Records, the studio which first found Ashanti and brought her to Irv Gotti of Def Jam/Murder Inc Records. Lisa also talks with upcoming artist Erika De Luna, who Miguel is currently producing tracks for.

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