Randolph Central School District’s Cafeteria Manager Lori Benson.

RANDOLPH – The Randolph Central School District will be losing the cafeteria manager to retirement, after 24 years of service to the district.

Lori Benson will be retiring from this position at the end of the 2025 year, with the retirement taking effect as of Dec. 29. Members of the school board recently approved this retirement at the board of education meeting on Nov. 6, and extended a host of congratulations to Benson.

Benson began work with the district in September 2002. Benson began at Randolph as the cafeteria manager due to a long background in the position before then. Benson stated that she has been in this line of work for about 36 years. One location Benson held this position at before was at the Bradford Area School District, where she worked for roughly ten years. Benson noted that this shift, while not completely intentional, brought her to a school district which she maintains a very deep connection to. Not only did Benson and her children go to Randolph school, but her four grandchildren currently attend as well. This gave Benson the chance to go into a career that she had a personal connection to and allowed her to see the grandchildren during their day at school.

Benson’s contributions to the district are sure to not be forgotten, especially her creation of the grandparents breakfast. Benson discussed the creation of the event, which she led 23 years ago. This breakfast occurs during the first week in March, which is Nation School Breakfast Week, and allows grandparents to come in to eat lunch with their grandchildren. Benson expressed great pride in the event, stating that it became so busy that the breakfast eventually had to be broken up over the course of two days to manage turnout. Additionally, Benson remembered grandparents that attended the event for nearly the entire length of their grandchildren’s schooling. The incredibly positive reception to this event will ensure that a piece of Benson’s contributions will continue to live on for years to come.

One of the most fond memories for Benson from her time at the school was seeing the reactions to the cafeteria at the elementary school receiving a new mural. Benson noted that the mural was painted by Imaginate Your Space, and includes a host of 3-dimessional cardinals as a show of school pride. Benson also proudly remarked about her efforts to ensure children had access to lunches when the COVID-19 shutdown occurred. Benson noted that cafeteria staff not only offered lunches that students could pick up, but also developed a route with the bus garage for children that needed lunches delivered.

Benson looks forward to retirement due to the opportunities to explore new experiences. Benson stated that she has plans to go on her first cruise in March 2026, where she will get the opportunity to go to Aruba. Besides exploring, Benson is excited to be able to spend time with her grandchildren and family members, who she hopes to be able to create even more memories with.