How to plan a trip to the Grand Canyon?

My friends and I are planning a trip from Ohio to celebrate our graduation, I'm looking for advice about: rate of travel (how far/long should we drive at a time), where to stay, what part of the canyon to see, what time of year to go (summer vs. spring break), route/sights to see along the way, recommended stops and interesting Native American points of interest. Anything three H.S grads would need to know to have a fun, safe, economical first (real) road trip. I'm also wondering how much you would recommended budgeting for a week long trip, we have a bit over a year to plan.