Meet the GMA After School Instructors Behind the Program

When parents tour our campus, the question underneath every other question is simple: who exactly will be with my child every afternoon? It's the right thing to ask. The GMA After School instructors in Gallatin, TN aren't a rotating cast of part-timers hired to fill a schedule — they're a certified, background-checked team led by three generations of the Spillmann family, with more than 33 years of youth-development experience between them. This is the team behind the program: who they are, what they're trained to do, and why the people matter far more than any single activity on the daily calendar.

Who Are the GMA After School Instructors?

At its core, GMA is a family operation that grew into a full academy. The program is staffed by 16+ certified team members, and what ties them together is a shared standard: every adult who works with your child is background-checked, trained, and expected to know each student by name. We're intentionally small enough that mentorship is personal, and established enough — more than three decades in Middle Tennessee — that we've had time to refine how we hire and train.

That combination is rare. A lot of after-school care leans on whoever is available that week. We built the opposite: a consistent, credentialed team with real longevity, so the person greeting your child on a Monday is the same trusted face on Friday.

The Spillmann Family: Three Generations of Youth Development

The heart of GMA is the Spillmann family, and their story is the reason the academy exists at all.

Grand Master Konrad Spillmann is our Founder and Academy Director. He brings 57 years in youth development, holds a 9th Degree Black Belt, and is Kukkiwon certified. Over his career he's been inducted into the Hall of Fame (2006), received a US Presidential Award (2003) and a California State Senate Award, and personally developed hundreds of student leaders and eight national champions. When we talk about a legacy of teaching kids, this is where it starts — and you can read more of that history on the Global Martial Arts USA story that the academy grew out of.

Joanne Spillmann serves as our Director of Child Development and directs the After School Program day to day. She holds a B.S. in Child Development from Cal State Fullerton and has 16+ years of experience working with children with disabilities. She also leads parent consultations and co-authored the "Leonard the Little Lion" children's books. Her background is why the program is built around how children actually learn and feel, not just how to keep them busy until pickup.

The next generation is already on the floor. Instructors like A. Durett — a 3rd Dan Black Belt in TaeKwonDo, a Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and CPR, Medical, and First Aid certified — and I. Kimble, a 1st Dan Black Belt who coaches our Little Lions and assists in After School, carry the same standards forward to the youngest students. Three generations, one consistent way of doing things.

Certified, Background-Checked, and Trained for Kids

Credentials aren't decoration here — they're the floor we hire from. Every GMA After School instructor is fully background-checked and verified, and CPR and First Aid certified. We keep a certified Red Cross Medical Assistant on-site during program hours, so a scraped knee or an asthma flare is handled by someone trained, calmly, right away. Our facility is also peanut-free, which matters more than parents expect until it's their child with the allergy.

On the martial arts side, our instructors are Kukkiwon certified (World Taekwondo), IBJJF registered (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu), and Safe Sport certified — national standards for coaching kids safely and appropriately. Layer that on top of 30+ years of combined special-needs experience within the team, and you get adults who are equipped for the full range of children who walk through our doors, not just the easy days.

Why the People Matter More Than the Program

Here's the honest version we give every family on a tour: schedules and activities are the easy part. Any program can print a daily agenda. What actually changes a child is the adults standing next to them — whether those adults notice the quiet kid in the back, stay patient on a hard afternoon, and celebrate effort instead of only results.

That's not a slogan; it's what parents keep telling us. In our roundup of what parents are saying about GMA After School, the reviews rarely mention a specific game or worksheet. They mention a coach who believed in their kid. And in the student transformations parents describe, the turning point is almost always a relationship with a mentor, not a milestone on a chart. The team is the program.

The Same Trusted Team, All Under One Roof

Because GMA is one connected academy rather than a patchwork of vendors, the same certified team supports your child across everything they do here — homework help, life-skills coaching, martial arts, and the steady afternoon rhythm that makes kids feel safe. The mentor helping with fractions is part of the same family that coaches the belt test. You can see how that plays out day to day in our after school program, and you can meet the full team and tour the campus whenever you're ready.

Thirty-three years in, twice voted Best in Sumner County, the thing we're proudest of isn't a trophy — it's that the people doing this work treat it as a calling. That's who's with your child every afternoon.

Frequently Asked Questions