Tonight We Leave the Jungle
“Tonight We Leave the Jungle” is an anthem about one of those childhood moments that feels ordinary when it happens, but becomes more meaningful with every passing year—the last day of elementary school.
Written for the fifth-grade students leaving Journey Elementary in Wentzville, Missouri, the song captures the mixture of excitement, nostalgia, friendship, and uncertainty that comes with closing one chapter and stepping into the next.
For these students, Journey was more than a school. It was where they grew up. It was classrooms and playgrounds, teachers and friendships, victories and mistakes, and countless ordinary days that eventually became memories. Under the leadership of Principal Dr. Dittmer and Assistant Principal Mrs. Herbert, they learned, changed, and became ready for whatever came next.
They entered Journey as kids and leave proudly as Journey Jaguars.
But the last bell doesn’t simply mark an ending.
It marks the beginning of summer—and the beginning of their next adventure.
When school starts again, these Jaguars will walk through a different set of doors at North Point Middle School, becoming North Point Junior Grizzlies and taking another step toward the future.
That transition inspired the title, “Tonight We Leave the Jungle.”
Built around the sound and structure of a classic 1980s power ballad, the song begins reflectively before growing into an anthem about moving forward without forgetting where you came from. The imagery of leaving the “jungle” represents more than leaving behind the Jaguar mascot. It represents leaving the familiar behind and having the courage to enter something new.
At the center of the song is one number:
2033.
That’s the year these students are expected to walk across another stage as high school graduates.
And that’s why this song isn’t intended to be the end of the story.
“Tonight We Leave the Jungle” is Chapter One.
The vision is to revisit this class at the end of eighth grade and continue their anthem as they leave middle school. Then, in 2033, the story can be completed with a final song celebrating the young adults those fifth graders became.
The schools will change.
The mascots will change.
The kids will certainly change.
But they’ll always be able to look back and remember where this part of their Journey began.
Journey Jaguars → North Point Junior Grizzlies → Class of 2033
One chapter closes tonight. Another begins in the summer light.