It's officially in circulation and you may get it from a bank or with your change in the near future. 

The brand new $10 bill was unveiled a little while ago, and it's sure different as instead of displaying images horizontally like the rest of Canadain bills do, this one shows the portrait of Viola Desmond vertically. 

"If you're going through, you're going to pay attention to that one because it is so different. It captures your attention because of the different layout," explained Law and Social Studies Teacher at Peacock Collegiate High School, Carrie Kiefer. "Also, I have a student in my class who said 'it sure looks like a movie ticket'. I haven't researched whether it was meant to look like a movie ticket, but running it vertically makes it looks like a movie ticket, so we're thinking there's something to that as well."

Desmond was chosen because of her courageous story. Back in 1946 she attended a movie theatre in Halifax, but after refusing to move from the "whites only" section she was charged, convicted and even fined for her actions. Her bold choice that day changed history, which is why her story is being shared in local classrooms as we wait to see the new bill appear in the Friendly City. 

"My students and I were talking about why it was so significant. We felt it was because she was taking a stand to really what had been status quo. She had planted the seeds of awareness that this is not okay that people who were African-Canadian did not get to sit in the same places as those individuals that were white. It started a movement of questioning what was common practice."

 Kiefer said it was important for her to create an open discussion with her students on all aspects of the bill - the way it looks, why it was important, and the significance it has for us today. 

"It gives us, to have these contextual conversations, it gives us an appreciation of the progress that's been made, not to say that there isn't still a lot of work that needs to be done. It gives students more of an appreciation for where we're at as well. It teaches us all a lesson that we can't be quiet when we see things going on that are going on that are obviously very wrong, because then we're just a big part of the problem. It's important to engage students, because I think it's easy for people to take for granted all of the great things that we do have, but we (all) need to understand that people have worked hard to get to the point where we're at right now."

She noted that there were compelling and powerful statements made by her students and herself during their discussion, and she hopes her students left knowing the meaning behind Desmond's story and the impact it still has on us today. 

"These conversations are very critical, they're critical conversations and we hope that people continue to act on their sense of justice, morality and what is right."