Duck Makes Her Annual Trip to Michigan Elementary School [Video]

Vanessa has returned to Village Elementary School in Hartland, Michigan for the past 13 years. Vanessa isn't a kid or even a teacher,she's a duck.

The mallard has been laying her eggs in the school's enclosed courtyard for over a decade then once they hatch, she leads them down a hallway and to a nearby pond

Ruth Darrah, whose now a retired teacher, comes back each year to make sure Vanessa and her babies make it out safely. “We were afraid she wasn’t going to return this year, but she did,” Darrah explains. “She has it down by now, after 13 years."

I never even knew ducks could live that long, let alone continue having baby ducks.

She's not the only one involved in the tradition though. The students know to stay out of the ducks' path as to not scare the animals and even the maintenance staff knows not to cut the courtyard's grass until Vanessa and her ducklings have left.