Gordon Wing sees new, familiar faces

Join us in welcoming Eighth Grade Social Studies Teacher Christina Milon, Eighth Grade Math Teacher Clair Green, and Spanish Teacher Cecilia Cámara. Longterm substitutes Dorlisa Dismuke and  Laura Rodriguez again return to USN, and Joel Bezaire has moved into the role of Assistant Head of Middle School for Academics.
Assembled by Juanita I.C. Traughber, Director of Marketing & Communications

Christina Milon is the Eighth Grade Social Studies Teacher. She earned her B.S. in Elementary Education K-8 from Mississippi University for Women, M.Ed. in Montessori Elementary Education from Loyola University Maryland, and M.A. in American History from Pace University. Mrs. Milon began teaching in 1995 and has taught elementary, middle, and upper school. She has taught eighth grade social studies for the past nine years. She is from Jacksonville, Florida and graduated from The Bolles School. She and her husband Frank have been married for 32 years and have two wonderful, grown children. They moved to Nashville in 2019, and she enjoys traveling with her family, hiking, and glamping in their teardrop camper which is named Samwise. Although she loves going to Nashville Predators games and happily cheers on the Nashville Sounds, Mrs. Milon said she will always be a loyal Jacksonville Jaguars fan. 

Clair Green is the Eighth Grade Math Teacher. She earned a B.S. in Education and an M.A. in Teaching at the University of Arkansas. After completing undergraduate and graduate school at the University of Arkansas, she taught at Thaden School in Bentonville, Arkansas for four years. Born and raised in Arkansas, Ms. Green moved to Nashville to teach Pre-Algebra and Algebra I at Harding Academy. She also has experience with teaching sixth grade math and Geometry. In the fall, Ms. Green will begin working on her Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction through the University of Virginia. You can find her at the dog park with her 4 dogs, running new routes to fun coffee shops, and eating tacos at Mas Tacos.

Dorlisa Dismuke moves downstairs from the third floor of the Gordon Wing, where she was the long-term substitute teacher for Eighth Grade Social Studies, to become Sixth Grade Language Arts Teacher. She earned a B.S. in Mathematics with Minors in Education and Music as well as M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction at Tennessee State University. A veteran teacher of more than 16 years, she enjoys writing, singing, acting, and writing, listening to music, among other things. Ms. Dismuke founded the nonprofit Firm In Totality a little over two years ago and uses a whole-child education model to help children be firm in their whole selves and their identity through positive experiences and unique learning opportunities.

Spanish Teacher Cecilia Cámara will teach fifth and sixth graders. She earned her B.A. in Business at  Universidad Anáhuac Mayab before moving to the United States from Mérida, Mexico to attend culinary school in New York City to specialize in Pastry Arts. She met her now-husband, Jesse, while in NYC and decided to stay state side. After working in various kitchens all over the city, both cooking and teaching pastry classes, they decided to move to Nashville to explore new opportunities, such as a life-changing role at Dozen Bakery. Over the past six years, Maestra Cecilia has been honing her teaching skills at home while raising her two children, Beatriz and Simon. Becoming a parent rekindled her passion for learning languages, only this time, she was teaching them to her children. She said she is eager to bring her love for learning, especially learning her mother tongue, Spanish, to the fifth and sixth graders at USN, where she hopes they will develop a love for the language and her culture. Maestra Cecilia is a black belt in Shotokan karate.

Retired USN Middle School Teacher Laura Rodriguez again returns to the Gordon Wing as the Fifth Grade Science Teacher in the absence of Tobey Balzer, who is on medical leave. She previously filled this role while Mrs. Balzer was on maternity leave and has filled in as a long-term substitute several times since retiring in 2017. She is parent of alumni, a veteran math teacher, and former sixth grade advisor, whose familiarity with USN’s culture and curriculum will ensure a smooth continuation of science education.

Longtime MS Math Teacher Joel Bezaire is the new Assistant Head of Middle School for Academics. He joined USN in the 2002-2003 school year, joining the seventh-grade team and teaching Pre-Algebra. In the ensuing 22 years, he has served as a Math Teacher on both the seventh and eighth-grade teams, taught electives classes, served as the Seventh-Grade Team Leader for over a decade, and coached the Middle School baseball team for the majority of those years. In 2014, he was named the inaugural holder of the Bovender Family Faculty Chair for “modeling the best in innovative teaching practices and thorough involvement in the life of the school.” He has even played bass with our house band of faculty during Music Night for several years. Mr. Bezaire holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Belhaven University and a Master of Science in Teaching from Middle Tennessee State University. In his roles outside of USN, Mr. Bezaire has shown commitment to teacher growth, teacher training, and building educator communities. He is an inaugural member of The Educators’ Cooperative and has served a variety of roles within that organization, currently sitting on the board of directors and chairing the Data & Programming Committee. In 2019, he was named a Desmos Fellow and Certified Presenter, and he travels the country training teachers on best practices using Desmos tools. Since 2021, he has worked with Texas Christian University’s “Institute for Teaching Excellence” during the summers, training teachers to elevate their craft to reach the highest-achieving students in their classrooms. Bezaire has written math and education articles for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Fathom Magazine, the Circe Institute, and Christianity Today and presented at a wide range of conferences both nationally and internationally including NCTM, OAME, ISTE, Twitter Math Camp, and more. He has been featured in articles and chapters in Education Week, KQED/Mindshift, and the book “Exploring Math with Technology: Practices for Secondary Math Teachers.”



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University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.