WOODBURY - When Michael Callahan graduated from Nonnewaug High School in 1986, he received the Rosenberg scholarship from the Woodbury Scholarship Fund - an award for scholarship, motivation and a well-rounded interest in arts and sciences.

He went on to graduate with honors from Georgetown University and the University of Connecticut School of Law and in 2003 became senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Yahoo! Inc.

Last year, he gave back to the fund: endowing a scholarship with his father in his mother's name.

"My mom died quite young. She dedicated her career to working with kids," he said. "This is a way for us to remember her and the things that were important to her and to help out some local kids too."

When he returned to Woodbury for his 20th high school reunion last Saturday, his friends and classmates asked how they could help too.

"They thought it was a great way to remember my mom and the community," he said.

The Callahan endowment remembers Callahan's mother Mary Ellen, a longtime guidance counselor at Newtown Middle School, religion teacher at St. Theresa's Church, volunteer and artist. She died in September 2003 at the age of 61.

The endowment is one of more than 50 named endowments and hundreds of scholarships through the Woodbury Scholarship Fund. It goes to students who, like Mary Ellen Callahan, have an interest in psychology, education or counseling.

This year's recipient, Amanda Bennett, says she plans to study psychology at Lesley College in Cambridge, Mass., and pursue a career in art therapy.

"It means a lot because it really helps out with all of the expenses of college," said Bennett, 17, of Woodbury. "It was nice because I'm going into the same field."

Callahan, 38, who moved to Stagecoach Road in 1976 and now lives in Silicon Valley with his wife and two children, said the scholarships he received when he graduated from Nonnewaug exposed him to broader ideas, experiences and people.

He studied international affairs, non-western history and diplomacy and Arab studies and in the summer of 1989 visited Israel and the West Bank as a guest of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Now, he counsels executives and the Yahoo! board of directors and manages the legal department, including a team of about 150 people worldwide.

"Woodbury is a phenomenal community," he said. "I think it's a special town and a special school.

"I wanted to be able to help out a kid who wanted to go to school somewhere and move out and experience some things."