Mike Masterton graduated from Saint Viator High School in 2008 but he has remained in touch with his classmates — and his counselor, Br. Rob Robertson, CSV. Like many of his peers, Masterton changed careers from his first jobs in the security field. He eventually entered the field of education, including spending five years as a special education teacher.
Br. Rob Robertson and Mike Masterton in the Counseling Office
But now, he says, he has found his calling, as a guidance counselor, and he credits Br. Rob with helping him find his passion.
“I thought back to my days at Saint Viator, and how much I enjoyed meeting with Br. Rob,” Masterton says, “and how he had helped me succeed in so many of those intangible ways. I wanted to do what he did.”
Masterton earned his Master’s degree in education with a counseling specialization from DePaul University. His first job was as a school counselor at Old St. Mary’s School in Chicago, which gave him the perspective of accompanying students from kindergarten through eight grade.
For the last two years he has been a counselor at Carmel Catholic High School in suburban Mundelein before landing his dream job back at Saint Viator. Mostly he says he has shaped his philosophy of advising students the way Br. Rob did with him and his classmates.
Br. Rob with his former student, Mike Masterton
“Br. Rob always made my classmates and me feel welcomed, seen and heard while at school, and those are such vital pieces of high school success,” Masterton says. “If I can be that person for someone else, I know I’m doing something good and something right.”
For his part, Br. Rob has been a school counselor for nearly 25 years, of his 37 years as a Viatorian. He has accompanied young people as a guidance counselor and campus minister at Bishop Gorman and Saint Viator high schools, St. Viator Parish School in Las Vegas and at Cristo Rey St. Viator in North Las Vegas before returning to Saint Viator in 2021.
“My philosophy of education has always been one where students will remember how you treated them much more than what you taught them,” Br. Rob says. “I have heard that over and over in my years of education.
“Students from my many years of education who I am still in contact with always tell me that they remember how I made them feel in my class or in my office,” he adds. “They may not exactly remember what I taught them but they knew I cared about them.”
He even hears from students out of the clear blue, ones whom he would never expect to hear from, who thank him simply for “being there.”
“It always reminds me why we do what we do as Viatorians,” Br. Rob says. “Our educational ministry is not just about academic teaching; it is much more about accompanying young people along their journey of life and faith.”