Members of the Class of 1987 were among the first generation of high school graduates who knew their futures could be brighter somewhere else. Buffalo News reporters tracked down more than 100 of the most promising graduates from 25 high schools in Erie and Niagara counties -- valedictorians, salutatorians, class presidents and vice presidents, and those voted most likely to succeed -- to see where they ended up.

Our three-part series follows the lives of 48 who agreed to talk about the directions their lives took after they left high school.

At our interactive feature, read a bio of each person and see how they looked then and now. Also, see audio slide shows of five people who stayed in the area and five who left.

Click here to go to the in-depth examination of the Class of 1987