Local Educator Teaches Students with Rap Music Duo Beans-n-Frank

Early on in his teaching career, Owings Mills resident Charles Washington, 35, experienced the frustration of instructing students who struggled to understand basic facts and concepts.

“The traditional method of teaching today’s students isn’t effective,” said Washington. “It’s hard to find students at any grade level that have mastered multiplication facts. It’s like a lost art.”

Washington, a math and science teacher, and fellow educator Mark Davis, a high school English teacher, found that while students had a hard time memorizing facts, they had no problem memorizing song lyrics—even intricate lyrics.

Out of this realization, the two developed Beans-n-Frank, a fictional pre-teen rap duo that teaches kids core concepts like ABCs, counting, and phonics through their lyrics.

The concept of putting basic facts to song is nothing new, and Washington and Davis aren’t the first to put counting and phonics to a hip-hop beat.

But Washington and Davis may be among the first to do it well.

The songs on Beans-n-Frank’s first CD, Ready for School, are as catchy and kid-friendly as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," set over beats that are reminiscent of many of today’s top hip-hop artists.

Songs like "Counting Money," which has an accompanying dance, and "ABCs" aren’t just catchy educational tunes, they’re songs that kids and their parents actually want to hear.

Washington and Davis knew that creating music that would captivate their audience may prove difficult after trying to introduce similar concepts through existing edutainment albums and failing.

“We tried to incorporate some of the things that were already out there in class, but the kids didn’t take to it. They thought it was corny,” Washington said. “We challenged ourselves to incorporate music comparable to what they listen to on the radio.”

The result has been more than a decade in the making. Washington and Davis first came up with the idea of a rap-based educational CD more than 10 years ago, but moved slowly with the project, recording a few songs over the years.

It wasn’t until about a year and a half ago that they decided to put more effort into recording an album. They released Ready for School in November 2010 and were surprised by the positive results.

“The kids love this stuff,” Washington said. “They memorize it. I’ve heard so many testimonials from students and parents. I didn’t expect it to take off so fast."

While sales of the first album have been modest, the public response has been widespread. Since the album was released last year, Washington and Davis have performed all over the country with Beans-n-Frank, being invited to perform at everything from concerts to birthday parties.

Onstage, Washington and Davis host the show, playing Beans’-n-Frank’s teachers. After they introduce the pair, they slip into the background, providing the voices while the mascots perform.

“My favorite part is seeing the kids’ faces the first time they hear it,” said Washington. “Boston, Atlanta, Virginia—it doesn’t matter where we go, the kids enjoy it.”

Yet while they have found success nationally, Washington was most concerned about the response from the students at his own school, New Mark of Excellence School in Windsor Mill.

“I was surprised that they liked it,” he said. “Sometimes you do stuff at your own school and the kids don’t appreciate it.”

The response there has been as positive as it has been nationwide.

“Any educator will tell you, if you can get kids to have fun learning, it’s more effective than any other method,” said Washington.

Currently, Washington and Davis have several Beans-n-Frank projects in the works. They are in the finishing stages of an anti-bullying project and completing the Ready for School 2.0 album. CDs can be purchased at beans-n-frank.com and are available on Amazon and iTunes.