Newspapers across the country are in trouble. Even The New York Times is selling off some of its assets. But Suri Roth is sitting pretty with her niche newspaper designed for classroom use.

When Roth was a teacher, she was frustrated by the current-events publications available to elementary school students who struggled with reading. Like many teachers who take matters into their own hands, Roth started writing and publishing her own grade-level-appropriate weekly news story for fourth- through sixth-graders. That was in 1999.

Today, 10 years after starting The Current Events, Roth is a full-time publisher with 12 employees. The Current Events is in 18 states and 300 schools, with a readership of 45,000 students. The newspapers, now available for primary through eighth-grade students, are accompanied by teachers' guides and student activity sheets.

It's a profit-making venture, without any advertisements. Subscriptions are $50 a year for individuals, with lower, bulk-rate pricing for schools, and have been increasing at an average of 17 percent each year since 2004. Roth's goal is to grow the subscription rate by 35 percent this year.

Roth hadn't planned on becoming an entrepreneur. The newspaper simply grew. Once she established it at her school, teachers and parents from other schools started requesting copies for their kids. The subscription rate grew to 35 schools in the second year of publication.

At that point, Roth realized that The Current Events was a full-time job. She also expanded the publication that year, creating an issue for grades seven and eight. In 2004, she added a primary-level newspaper for grades two and three.

Startup expenses were minimal. Roth worked from her home, where she already had a computer, and she opened an account with a news service, which gave her access to images of current events from around the world. Since then, she has rented office space to house the now 12-person operation. She describes her "essential startup resources" as her experience and understanding of how to spark students' interest, along with the ability to distill information and the intuition to know which news stories were "hot" and educationally relevant.

"The real milestone for us was when we actually started printing on newsprint," Roth says. Before that, the newspaper was designed on an 8½-by-11-inch master sheet that teachers photocopied for their students, but then she found a local printer to produce copies of the paper for each student. "We wanted to feel the newspaper experience all the way," Roth says. "By providing children with newspapers, we are essentially giving them the confidence that they can read that type of information, just like the adults in their lives."

She also continued expanding the publication's reach by gaining approval to distribute the newspaper throughout the New York City school district.

Remarkably, however, The Current Events has expanded to 18 states largely by word of mouth. "We are now launching a massive marketing campaign and have already seen encouraging results at the NEA Expo in July," she says. In fact, she predicts the newspaper will soon have nationwide distribution.

To date, expansion of the newspaper has paid for itself. However, The Current Events has attracted the attention of an investment group, and an agreement is pending.

Roth has spent time revitalizing the paper this year. "We've renewed the look and feel of the paper, and it is a lot more reader-friendly now," she says. She plans to launch a new, interactive website in September.

From the start, Roth determined to focus on her strengths and delegate other tasks. She wasn't shy about reaching out to family members or knowledgeable people in the community when she needed assistance or advice. She found people were very willing to offer their expertise. "For instance, Roberta Weiss, an educational consultant with Fordham University, graciously met with me several times in the early days of The Current Events. Later, she used TCE in a teacher-training program."

When it comes to educating would-be entrepreneurs, Roth says: "The Current Events is a labor of love for me, and I think that's significant. I'm always tuned into the news and, in the back of my mind, exploring 'how can this news event be a teachable moment?' "

Roth also advises would-be entrepreneurs to maintain a healthy relationship with money, "one that is not fearful. We have to manage our money. Our money should not manage us," she says.