PITTSFIELD – Nearly a quarter of the student population at Maine Central Institute has found a new, healthy way to spend Saturday nights.

Whether it’s playing Scategories or watching a movie or throwing themselves against a Velcro wall, about 80 students have been attending the school’s Wellness Team-sponsored chem-free nights.

Four events have been held since last fall, and the final, mother-of-all chem-free nights is planned for May 30, including a barbecue, outside games and a battle of the bands.

As team members praised the program and its results Wednesday morning, Bangor Savings Bank manager Michelle Hodgins and Carlene Engstrom, representing the MCI Alumni Association, each donated $250 to keep the program alive next year.

Julie Treadwell, MCI’s director of Athletics, Activities and Wellness, said the school had a similar team in the past but that it had finally found its focus this year.

“We wanted to come up with something real, something the kids really felt they could use,” said Treadwell.

Along with the chem-free nights, the team created a T-shirt that is given away as a prize to students and emphasizes good decision-making skills. Called the “MCI Take 5” program, it urges students to ask, brainstorm, consider, decide and evaluate their choices.

But it is the chem-free nights that really clicked with the kids, team members said.

“When we can get 70 to 80 kids in a gym on a Saturday night to just hang out and play board games, we know we are filling a void,” said Treadwell.

The students come from all socioeconomic areas, and there is a balance between boarding students and SAD 53 students.

Postgraduate basketball coach Ed Jones said a benefit of the events is the unity he sees around campus. Students who may have just passed each other in the hall are now greeting and visiting with each other, said Jones.

In addition, the team members are viewed in a less-authoritative light. “It gives the kids an opportunity to be more comfortable with us, since we all wear different hats during the day,” said Jones.

School nurse Becky Geagan said she has been impressed with how “high energy” the kids are. “This allows them to let off a lot of steam,” she said.

But the most important lesson, said school counselor Lori Lindsay, is that the students are shown that they can have a good time without chemicals.

Treadwell said the community has been “incredibly supportive. We have never heard no when we asked for anything,” she said, including prizes to be awarded at chem-free nights.

This year has focused primarily on students, said Treadwell, although some weight loss and smoking cessation classes have been offered to the staff.

In an effort to refine goals further, Treadwell said the team will take a weekend retreat in June.