Matthew Huddleston winds up and throws a blistering fastball towards home plate. Justin Borquez takes a mighty swing but misses, and a big smile comes across his face. Not the normal reaction you would expect from a competitor involved in a baseball game. But the game in question was not a real baseball game and Huddleston and Borquez are not athletes. The two are severely disabled students enrolled in the Kern County Superintendent of Schools’ (KCSOS) special needs program at the Harry E. Blair Learning Center in Bakersfield. And they were taking part in a virtual baseball game, despite their physical handicaps, thanks to an innovative idea by teacher Taleiah Larkin. Larkin has brought technology, hope, excitement and a new way of learning and exercising to students who have a difficult time doing both. On Dec. 11, Larkin was presented with a $1,000 "One Teacher at a Time Grant" by KBAK TV news anchor Siemny Chhuon. Larkin used the grant to purchase a Nintendo Wii and software for "Project Virtual PE." The concept is providing about 45 students with severe disabilities in six classrooms at Blair the ability to participate in physical education activities. "During a period of time this past summer it was too hot to take the children outside to play. I had a Wii of my own at home and thought ‘I wonder if the technology might help our students get the needed exercise,’" Larkin said. "So, I brought it in and one of our former students, who is a special needs athlete, tried it out. She loved it, and I could see from her enthusiasm that Wii could have a valuable place in our classroom." More